This trip was arranged through Manu Expeditions, P.O. Box 606, Cusco,
Peru(email manuexpe+@amauta.rcp.net.pe). The planning and itinerary
setting started in December, 1998, and was greatly aided by the professionalism
and consideration of Barry Walker and the rest of the Manu Expeditions
staff.

Ten participants took part in the trip and they were: Kathy and Kraig
Kemper, Zoa Shumway, Seattle, WA; Joe and Ruth Terlouw, Buckley, WN; Kathy
Ketchum and Terry Droessler, Monmouth, OR; Edith Lindner, Mickey and Ron
Ketchum, Medford OR. All of the group had been to South America previously,
but none had ever visited Peru.

Our guide was Colin Bushell, from Hertfordshire, England, who also runs
Toucan Tours. Colin was very knowledgeable in the birdlife of the
entire country of Peru. He was also solicitous in the welfare of
the group, at times changing room assignments to make it more convenient
to individual needs. It is fair to say that the success of the trip
was because of his fine leadership and expertise.

The trip summary is as follows: I saw 454 bird species, of which 210
were life-listers. There were 18 additional species that someone
else in the group saw that I did not, making a group list of 472 species.
In addition, Colin identified 37 other birds by sound making a total of
509 bird species encountered in 3 weeks.

My personal birdlist and daily logs of birds seen are attached in Microsoft
Excel format. If you are unable to read this, please email me at
rketchum@cdsnet.net, and I will send a text formatted document.

The Trip

The trip officially started on 9/23/00, when the last group of us arrived
at the Lima Airport and were met late at night by Colin. We were
then transferred to Hotel La Castellana in Miraflores.

At 0800 hours we loaded on our tour bus and headed south on the Pan-American
Highway toward Paracas. The terrain along the coast consists of rocky
high hills interspersed with marshes and alluvial plains, however even
though I had read that the country was barren, I was not prepared for the
total lack of anything growing over thousands of acres. Outside of
the occasional marsh and irrigated land in the river valleys, it is the
most barren countryside I have ever seen.

This condition contributes to the concentration of birdlife in the few
green and watered areas that are encountered. Our stop at Pantanos
De Puerto Viejo, was very productive giving us such birds as the Many-colored
Rush-tyrant and the Wren-like Rushbird. The Peruvian Meadowlark,
Yellowish Pipit and Grassland Yellow-finch were also relatively common.
Many waders and marsh birds were easily seen.

As we drove along the coast, we encountered Peruvian Pelicans, Peruvian
Boobies and Inca Terns. While the land was barren, the waters off
of Peru are extremely productive because of the cold Humboldt Current.

Away from the coast, we saw Croaking Ground-doves and Long-tailed
Mockingbirds.

The night was spent in Pisco at the Hotel Paracas, a very nice resort
that had a good restaurant, but only average rooms. It was quite
comfortable however, and we were treated well there.

On the morning of 9/25 we boarded a boat on which we were the only group,
allowing us to do a primarily birding trip. The destination was Paracas
Bay and the Bellestras Islands and outward. We had a wonderful trip
that took up the better part of five hours allowing us to see the Humboldt
Penguin, Cape Petrel, Red-legged Cormorant, Peruvian Booby, Blue-footed
Booby, Inca Tern, Guanay Cormorant, Kelp Gull, Gray-headed Gull, Inca Tern,
Peruvian Sea-cincloides and many other birds and mammals. It is trip
that should not be missed.

In the afternoon, we drove through a portion of the Paracas National
Park and by the village of Lagunillas. The major sightings of the
trip were Chilean Flamingos and Coastal Miners.

We headed back to Miraflores on 9/26, stopping in a few sparsely vegetated
areas where we found the Short-tailed Field-tyrant. We stopped back
at Pantanos de Puerto Viejo to see if we could find the Peruvian Thick-knee,
but we were unsuccessful. We did see Band-tailed Gulls, White-tufted
and Great Grebes and a Short-eared Owl. We arrived back at the Hotel
La Castellana in late afternoon.

In the planning of our trip, we had considered going to the Nazca lines,
but had discarded it. In retrospect, we are glad that we did, because
it would have required two more days of driving through the Atacama Desert.
While the trip would have been interesting from an archeological standpoint,
when the objective of the trip is primarily birding, we would have lost
those two days.

Our plans on 9/27 were to fly from Lima to Cusco, then bird the Huacarpay
Lake area in the afternoon. When we arrived, we found that all of
the taxi and bus drivers were on strike, essentially stranding us at the
airport. Our bus had arrived at the airport parking lot, and we were
able to put our luggage on board, but unable to take the bus out on the
streets.

Manu Expeditions made a quick change of plans and put us up in the Hotel
Savoy in downtown Cusco. Unfortunately we had to walk from the airport
to there. At approximately 10,000+ elevation, when you are not acclimated,
it is slightly easier said than done. The public transportation going
were a fleet of independently owned, pedal powered, cargo tricycles, and
one of our group was given a ride to the hotel on one of these. The
rest of us walked the two to three miles.

Because of the strike we were unable to visit the Huacarpay Lakes, but
our plan was to go there after our return from Manu Wildlife Center.
As it turned out, it was probably best that we had this afternoon and evening
to take it easy and laze around. It gave us a chance to adapt to
the altitude, and we were all feeling some effects, varying from my feeling
slightly light-headed to some who were physically ill.

Several of us had obtained a prescription (Diamox) for relieving the
effects of altitude sickness and my assessment is that they were very worthwhile.
While I did get a mild case of food poisoning for one day, I felt quite
well all of the time we were in the high country. My recommendation
is to obtain these pills prior to leaving your home country.

In any case, we were told that the strike would only last until 7:00
PM, which is the custom of strikes in Peru, and our luggage would be delivered
to our room. This turned out to be the case.

Early the morning of 9/28 we were transported to the train station,
and boarded the train for Aquas Calientes, portal to the ruins of Machu
Picchu. It was scheduled to be a three hour trip, but our luck was
continuing, and as we were negotiating the five rail switchbacks that raise
the tracks over the ridge surrounding Cusco, we derailed. It took
about a hour and half to jack the car back on the track and we were on
the way again. During the wait, we observed Chiquanco Thrushes and
Peruvian Sierra-finches outside the windows, and at one point had two Black-chested
Buzzard-eagles in sight.

The rail trip was scenic and relaxing, and we were able to spot such
birds as the Andean Gull, Torrent Duck and Bar-winged Cincloides from the
train. We arrived at Aquas Calientes around noon, and porters were
at the station to escort us and carry out luggage to the Hotel Presidente.

This hotel was a fairly new accommodation near the outskirts of the
town along the Urubamba River. While it was not fancy, it was very
comfortable and I would recommend it. We visited some of the more
top line resort/hotels, and I suspect the price we paid there was much
more reasonable and very adequate for our needs.

We visited the ruins that afternoon, spending around 3 hours in all.
I enjoyed it immensely and you have to see it to really appreciate it.
The workmanship is exquisite and planning must have been extraordinary,
for it would have taken a thousand people the better part of 100 years
to complete the entire area.

From the birding standpoint, we didn't do much on the grounds, however
we did find Rust-and-yellow Tanagers quite common. Several of us
disembarked from the bus where it crossed the river to the east of Aquas
Calientes and birded our way back to the hotel. A few of the typical
birds were Saffron-crowned Tanagers, Ocellated Piculets and Torrent Tyrannulets
along with Slate-throated Redstarts and Masked Flower-piercers.

The next morning (9/29) we went up to Machu Picchu again, with two going
into the ruins and the rest of us walking down the road back toward Aquas
Calientes. The main target was the Inca Wren, which we found just
outside the ruins grounds. Other birds of note were Andean Guan,
Andean Parakeet which we saw as we walked the road. The Green-and-white
Hummingbird and Speckled Hummingbird were found along with Blue-capped
Tanager, Blue-necked Tanager, Blue and Black Tanager and host of tryannulets
and elaenias. The bird of the day was the Masked Fruiteater that
we found as we walked the trails (steps) between the road switchbacks.

After returning to Aquas Calientes for lunch we went to a resort grounds
to pick up the Chestnut-breasted Cornet which was coming to their feeders
in numbers.

In the late afternoon, we boarded the train and went back toward Cusco
as far as Ollantaytambo, where our bus was waiting, then transferred to
Urubamba and Yucay(a village adjacent to Urubamba) where we stayed at the
Hostal Posada del Libertador for the next two nights. This was a
comfortable place with a good restaurant and a meeting room/bar.

On 9/30 we went by our bus (20 passenger with only 10 of us on it) over
Abra Malaga (Malaga Pass approx. 12000+ feet) through Puna down to treeline.
The weather was cool and cloudy with an occasional light shower, so birding
was slow, but we still got 46 birds that day, only slightly below average.
The species that come to mind are Shining Sunbeam, Red-crested Cotinga,
Tit-like Dacnis, Rusty Flower-piercer, Andean Ibis, Andean Lapwing, Mountain
Caracara, Sapphire-vented Puffleg, White-winged Diuca-finch and many more.
On the way home, we found the Andean Flicker and White-tufted Sunbeam.

As an aside, one thing I hadn't prepared for in a tropical country,
was how cool the weather was. If you plan on spending time on the
coast and in the Andes one needs to dress for 60 to 70 degree Fahrenheit
temperatures. I had some clothes suitable for this, but could have
used three changes rather the two that I had.

The next day (10/1) was planned for a climb from 12000 feet to 12500+
in an effort to find the Royal Cincloides in the fast disappearing Polylepsis
stands that used to occur commonly in the Abra Malaga area. This
is not a hike for those who have bad knees, are overweight, overage and
generally out of shape. I was 66 at the time of this trip, and in
pretty good shape, but I found it to be about my limit. While climbing,
I could muster 5 steps then a rest.

I had not planned on making the trip, but the day was so bright and
clear that I decided to go at the last minute. I am thankful that
I did, because it was a beautiful, if tiring walk, and we saw our only
Andean Condor of the trip there. We also found a pair of Giant Conebills,
Andean Hillstar, Blue-mantled Thornbill, Tufted Tit-tyrant, Tawny Tit-spinetail
and White-browed Tit-spinetail. We were unsuccessful in finding the
Royal Cincloides but the rest of the day spent out in the High Andes was
well worth it.

In late afternoon, we drove back to Cusco and spent the night in Los
Andes Hostal, a comfortable upscale hotel just off the main plaza.

The following day, we headed east out of Cusco by bus toward Pillhuata
Camp on the eastside of the Andean summit and in Manu National Park.
The morning was spent driving through dry, open country that had been farmed
and irrigated by the Incas, and the present occupants still farm the better
lands. Our only stop in the morning was just outside Paucartambo
to pick up the Chestnut-breasted Mountain-finch, Mourning Sierra-finch
and Black-faced Brush-finch.

Lunch was at the Manu National Park boundary near Tres Cruces, some
birding was done in the area but no real standouts were found. We
then moved down the road, which now was forested and moving into true Cloud-forest
on the eastside of the Andes. A tent camp was set up at a meadow
that was called Pillhuata Camp, where we stayed that evening in sleeping
bags provided by Manu Expeditions.

I was glad we opted to have one campout, but that was all I needed.
Even though we had sleeping pads, etc. there is just not enough room in
tents to be comfortable for very long.
We were treated to a good dinner and breakfast prepared by Manu Expeditions
personnel, which was served inside a larger dining tent, outfitted with
a large camp table and chairs.

Just after sundown, we tried for the Swallow-tailed Nightjar.
Colin was able to get sound responses to tapes, but we were unable to bring
the birds in for sighting. Colin and Kraig Kemper arose early the
next morning and did get a good sighting at dawn.

On October 3, day 10 of our trip we walked down the road toward Cock
of the Rock Lodge, interspersing riding the bus which followed behind us
as a support vehicle. The entire route was in Cloud Forest (2800
meters to 2000 meters in elevation), and the weather remained cool, but
comfortable for most of the day.

The Manu Road follows the Rio Alto Madre de Dios, and traverses very
steep ground. Some of the books say there is a system whereby vehicles
only go down one day, then only up the next. We didn't find that
to be the case, and while the road is fairly narrow, there are enough turnouts
that it will handle traffic in both directions. The road standard
is not high, and is relatively rough where compared to a crushed rock running
surface.

Since we were traversing cloud forest, many of the birds were colorful
tanagers, including the Grass-green Tanager, Scarlet-bellied Mountain-tanager
and Blue-necked Tanager. We also got brief looks at the Red-and-white
Antpitta, good looks at Golden-headed Quetzal, Gray-breasted Mountain-toucan,
Barred Fruiteater and a number of hummingbirds. We spent a good deal
of time working on various spinetails and their ilk., coming up with good
looks at many of the skulkers (see list for Oct 3).

Late in the afternoon a downpour started, cutting off the birding and
we headed for Cock of the Rock Lodge, arriving about 5:30. The rain
lasted most of the evening, so we were glad we were under a roof rather
than in the tent as we had been the night before.

Cock of the Rock Lodge is a very simple place, providing several sleeping
cubicles for two people, but relatively little privacy since the wall is
only one board wide and there are no ceilings. Bathroom facilities
are shared, however there are four bathrooms, so there is seldom a need
to wait to use them.

They have constructed four cabanas, which are self-contained and relatively
large. I had the impression they were planning more.

The dining room was a screened in area next to the dormitory cubicles
with an attached kitchen. The meals were quite good always served
by candlelight, because they did not use an electrical generator.

I found the place quite comfortable, and we stayed three nights.
The weather was warm and humid, but not oppressive at all.

The major claim to fame is an Andean Cock of the Rock lek within a thousand
feet of the lodge, and just below the road. Access to the observation
platform is locked and is controlled by the lodge manager. Our group
went to the platform at sunrise one morning and were impressed by the number
and activity of the birds at the lek. We were there about a hour
and saw the display start with the daylight and slowly ebb until there
were just a few males left when we departed.

We birded for two full days out of the lodge, both above and below along
the road. The mixed flocks of tanagers, redstarts, etc. were great
to come across. We worked hard pulling out antbirds and wood-wrens
and found a great number of flycatchers. The top birds of the two
days for me were the Amazonian Umbrellabird sitting on a bare limb within
50 feet, and the Lanceolated Monklet that we saw twice.

While I could enumerate the birds sighted while at this location, I
think you can refer to the daily listings for a good feeling of it's worth
as a birding site. I was glad we spent the time we did there.

On the morning of October 6 we arose at 3:00 AM, had breakfast and left
by 3:30 in a light rain. We were heading for Manu Wildlife Center
on the Rio Madre de Dios and it was a long distance to travel. As
the crow flies, it is about 50 km from Cock of the Rock to Atalaya where
we were to board a motorized canoe for the remainder of the journey.
This meant that it was probably over 75 km by poor road. In any case
we did not get to Atalaya until about 8:30, which included a short stop
in Pillacopata for a few supplies.

We loaded into the boat and were underway for what we were told would
be a seven hour ride downriver. The seats were comfortable with two
seats in each row and seating about 16. It was covered and tarps
were provided to cover your legs. The weather was cloudy and damp
and the temperature about 75, very cool for this elevation (650 meters).
As long as one kept his sweatshirt or light jacket on and covered his legs
the ride was very comfortable. Had it been raining and with your
clothing damp it might have been very uncomfortable.

Birding from the boat was pleasant, and we were able to tick off Fasciated
Tiger-heron, Capped Heron, Snowy Egret and Cocoi Heron rather easily.
With the change in habitat and the easy viewing, this day proved to me
the second highest species count day of the entire trip with 66.

We soon started to see parrots and macaws in large numbers, with the
Blue and Yellow Macaw being quite common along with Red and White Macaw
and Scarlet Macaw following in slightly fewer numbers. We also saw
many Blue-throated Piping-guans in the trees and flying across the river.

The river at this point is not deep, and has many sandbars and islands
making good habitat for the herons and other shorebirds such as Pied Lapwings.
One island had a pair of Horned Screamers on it. Cuvier's Toucan
was also common in the shoreline trees.

After a brief pit stop in Boca Manu, we travelled downriver until approximately
4:30 PM, when we arrived at Manu Wildlife Center.

Manu Wildlife Center is a relatively new developement, and is well planned
to take care of the nature visitors needs. The main area covers about
10 acres, with a large dining hall with screened walls and thatched roof,
a kitchen about the same size across the path, a bar/conference room, about
20-25 two person cabanas raised on four foot stilts, each with a bath room
and shower (hot water) and a small desk. These are spaced about 30
feet apart and interspersed in between the trees. The walls are screened
in the upper half and wooden lattice in the lower half. The roofs
are steeply peaked and thatched and the floors are polished hardwood boards.

Manu Wildlife Center is set up with a good system of trails that appear
to be well-marked. I was not required to find my way back by myself,
since we were with our guide at all times, but I feel I would not have
had a problem.

One of the more interesting trail setups is a grid system, whereby if
we heard a bird away from the trail we were on, we could go over to the
next grid line, and usually get quite close to it.

The other trails took one to different types of habitat, from riverine
to upland forest, so a wide variety of birdlife was made available to us
right at Manu itself. In addition, there is a canopy platform approximately
120 feet up in an emergent Kapok tree.

Within less than 1 hours motor canoe ride, there are several oxbow lakes,
a macaw clay lick, some bamboo trails, and other trail systems accessing
habitats that are not available at Manu Wildlife Center.

Normally, there are two or more groups at the center, and a schedule
is set up to visit the various destinations, so they do not conflict with
one another. We were the only ones there, since we were close to
the end of the dry season, so we had our pick of the places to go.

Our weather was quite warm and humid with cloudy mornings and sunny
afternoons all of the time were there. As far as I was concerned
it was perfect weather.

The first day there we went to Cocha Blanca, where the Giant River Otter
were said to be found. It was about a half hour downriver, then a
short hike inland to the oxbow lake where a catamaran type float was available.
Our Manu Expedition boatmen paddled the boat and all we had to do was stand
or sit and look. The otters were there and not shy, plus this habitat
gave the biggest species day of the trip with 90. Included were Silvered
Antbird, Hoatzin, Razor-billed Currasow, Black-capped Donacobius, several
species of Oropendola, Boat-billed Heron, Rufous-sided Crake and Jabiru.

The third day was a trip to the canopy platform and the 4th day was
the trip the Blanquilla Macaw Lick, truly a sight not to be missed.

The remainder of the time was spent either on trails around Manu Wildlife
Center or trips offsite to places named Cumunga Trail, Cocha Naeva and
Bamboo Viaje Trail. All were good birding, however birding in the
bamboo is a slow and trying process, because alot of the time is spent
waiting to intercept a flock of feeding birds, then it is frustratingly
difficult to get a good look at some of the birds like Foliage-gleaners
and Antbirds who tend to be skulkers anyway.

In the time we spent going and coming on the Rio Madre de Dios, a total
of about 6 days, we saw around 195 species of birds, almost half of the
total for the trip. This was due in large part to Colin Bushell,
our guide, who really worked hard to get the antbirds, tryannulets and
their ilk to show themselves.

All in all it is a wonderful place.

Early on the morning of October 11 we boarded the canoe for the last
time and headed upriver to the Boca Manu airfield where we had scheduled
the Twin Otter Military Aircraft to pick us up at 9:00 AM and fly us back
to Cusco.

The airstrip there is grass and has been cut out of the jungle.
A 50X25 foot thatched gazebo type building houses a radio and a place to
stand in the shade while waiting. The plane, operated by the military,
was right on time and it was a beautiful day.

When we rose above the treetops, we got our first real good view of
how large the Amzaon basin really is. Unbroken rainforest stretched
out to the east as far as we could see. A sight that I hope lasts
forever. The Andes with their snow peaks were to the west and the
deeply incised east slopes with their heavily forested canyons and ridges
were in front. A really grand sight.

It took about 90 minutes to fly back over the country that had taken
us 5 days to leisurely cross. When we touched down in Cusco, we found
that there was another taxi and bus driver strike. This cut out our
chance to visit Huacarpay Lakes. As it turned out, about the only
bird that we had been planning on getting there was the Bearded Mountaineer
which is common and endemic. Another was the Plumbeous Rail, but
we would have one more chance on our last day outside of Lima.

When we got to the Cusco airport parking area, Manu Expeditions
had already lined up the manpowered cargo tricycles to carry our luggage
to the Hotel Los Andes, and also had a couple for some people to ride if
they wished. Most of us walked, which took about an hour. The
rest of the day was spent picking up souvenirs, resting and catching up
on the world news.

We flew out early the next morning, and true to form the strike had
only lasted until 7:00 PM so we had a bus to ride to the airport.
We arrived in Lima about 10:00AM were picked up and taken to the Hostal
La Castellana again. Another vehicle was there to take those of us
who wished to go to Pantanos de Villa, just outside of Miraflores, to try
one more time for the Peruvian Thickknee.

We spent about 4 hours there, did find the Thickknee plus the Plumbeous
Rail, so we finished up the birding part of the trip with almost all expectations
met or exceeded.

When leaving the country, the airlines require you arrive 3 hours prior
to departure. This required another 3:00 wakeup in order to get to
the airport by 4:00 AM. Surprisingly, the terminal was actually pretty
busy at that ungodly hour. We processed through with no problems
and left the beautiful country of Peru right on time.

The trip was a wonderful experience. This was due for the most
part in a good group to travel with, but also due to the professionalism
and caring attitude of our guide Colin Bushell and Manu Expedition's personnel.

TRIP LIST: (Note: to obtain a copy of the species
lists for each location, contact the report author:)